What are the best strategies to improve implementation of evidence-based practices (EBP) to enhance effective health risk communication strategies among racial and ethnic minority males and underserved men?

Examples of several issues that need to be addressed are:

• Need for better definition of the role of families/communities in EBP (as co-therapists).

Our improved ability to develop, implement and disseminate EBPs tailored specifically for men in health disparity populations may help us move beyond current obstacles in addressing health inequities and improve health outcomes.

Some current challenges:

• High blood pressure affects more than 40 percent of African Americans.

• The odds for stroke, the third leading cause of death in the United States, are especially high for African American men at 70%.

• African Americans are about 50% more likely to experience stroke than Caucasians.

• Sleep apnea is seen more frequent among men than among women, particularly among African-American and Hispanic men.

• Life expectancy for African American men is 4.7 years less than for white men (2010).

• Native American men have an average life expectancy of 71 years old compared to white men who have an average life expectancy of 76.5 year.

Feasibility and challenges of addressing this CQ or CC:

• Shifting demographics of race as well as ageing of the population in this country will have a major impact on the utilization, organization and delivery of health care.

• Country acknowledges significant economic burden of health inequities in the U.S. in the near future.

• Hospitals and health systems are working hard to align quality improvement goals with disparities solutions. Opportunity to leverage these efforts for the development and implementation of targeted health disparities initiatives is timely.

• HL has a number of large population-based studies (such as JHS, Strong Heart, Hispanic Community Health) that could be leveraged to specifically identify EBP for wider implementation and dissemination to underserved areas.

Name of idea submitter and other team members who worked on this idea:
NHLBI Staff

To extend our knowledge of the pathobiology of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders and enable clinical investigations that advance the prediction, prevention, preemption, treatment, and cures of human disease.